I think the recent satellite measurements of Antarctic ice loss just show natural processes at work. The net loss of 160 Gt/year sounds quite high, but is the relatively small difference between ice forming and melting, each around 2000 Gt/year.

Much hype in the media of course that it must all be our fault, and so we should take urgent action, etc.

The 160 Gt/year is equivalent to about 0.43 mm/yr of sea level rise, or equivalent to 25% of the Jevrejeva et al 2014 sea level rise figure of 1.8 mm/yr. However, it is still twice the Sheppard et al 2012 (Sciencemag) 81 Gt/year figure for 2005-2010. This could be accounted for in the measurement techniques. The recent study is based on actual measurements from Cryostat-2 satellites, which is accurate to as little as 1.3cm. It is impressive accuracy, but in Antarctica there is much lower rates of annual accumulation, with large calving at the periphery - particularly in Western Antarctica at the present time. A layer of ice of 1mm spread over all of Antarctica would weigh over 10 gigatonnes. The difference might be accounted for by measurement bias. More data from Cryostat-2 will demonstrate if the is the case. If I am right, the data will come more into line with the GRACE measurements

There have been various studies over the past few years of years of polar ice-cap melt. All show acceleration in the rate of ice melt within the study period and many say that it is "worse than we thought". Try researching Velicogna and Wahl 2006, Velicogna 2009, Rignot, Velicogna 2011, or Sheppard et al sciencemag.org 2012. That latter two start from 1993, assuming the net rate of polar ice loss was zero in that year. There is a reconciliation issue with these studies, compared to sea level rise. The satellite data from http://sealevel.colorado.edu/ shows a constant level of sea level rise of 3.2 mm/yr for the last 20 years, Jevrejeva et al. (2014) just 1.8 mm/yr for 1970-2008. What they do not show is an acceleration in rate of sea level rise. If both Rignot, Velicogna 2011 & Jevrejeva et al. (2014) are correct, then between 1993 and 2010 the proportion of sea level rise due to polar ice cap melt increased from 0% to 100% of the sea level rise. So what declined? If Kevin Trenberth is to believed, it was not due to rapidly declining ocean temperatures.

Yes that's right, the sea level budget is not compatible with either accelerated melt of the ice caps or accelerated "missing heat" in the oceans, since sea level rise is stable or possibly even decelerating.